AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- Grant Hill put an end to his
struggles against Boston and in the process put an end to the
Celtics' playoff pretensions.

Hill, who had averaged only 15 points against Boston this
season, scored 27 to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 111-106
victory over the Celtics, who suffered their ninth straight loss
and officially were eliminated from the playoff hunt.

Jerry Stackhouse added 22 points and Lindsey Hunter 18 for the
Pistons, who had all five starters score in double figures.
Detroit also shot 43-of-56 from the free throw line. The
Celtics got just 33 attempts from the line, hitting 20.

"We fouled them a lot," Celtics guard Paul Pierce said. "We
played right into their hands. When you let them get to the
line, that really kills you. They made some crucial free throws
and we missed some crucial free throws down the stretch. I
think that was the difference in the game. When you play well
for three and a half quarters and let it slip away like that, it
hurts."

Detroit went on a 17-3 run bridging the final two quarters as
Mikki Moore made a pair of free throws with 11:04 remaining to
open an 84-71 lead.

The closest the Celtics got thereafter was 109-106 with 3.1
seconds left, but Stackhouse hit a pair from the line to seal
the victory.

"Give Boston some credit, they really have no reason to play.
They're out of the playoffs, we had them down and we thought it
was going to be an easy game," Detroit interim coach George
Irvine said. "We started messing around a little bit and Boston
wasn't about to lie down. They played better after a slow start
and we played worse.

"I thought we were really good defensively in the third
quarter," he added. "That got us back in the lead and we just
kind of gutted it out down the stretch."

Boston suffered its seventh straight road loss and has dropped
its last six visits to Detroit.

Kenny Anderson led Boston with 24 points, including eight in the
final 89 seconds, when the Celtics staged a futile comeback.
Paul Pierce added 20 points and Antoine Walker 17 for Boston.

The game swung back and forth in the first half, with the
Pistons opening a 34-21 lead midway through the second period.
The Celtics responded with a 21-2 run and took a 42-36 advantage
on Pierce's 3-pointer with 3:09 left before halftime.

Boston never led by more than seven points, however, and could
not recover after the Pistons made their decisive run.

The Pistons had their best defensive first quarter of the year,
holding the Celtics to 12 points, but followed it with their
worst second-quarter effort, yielding 38 points.

"I guess we had a mental letdown," Stackhouse. "Things were
kind of easy and we started to coast a little bit, but we
finally came back with some intensity in the second half. In
the third quarter, we came back and established our defense."